Belarus denies illegal arms shipments to Libyan Rebels
RFE/RL based on reporting by Interfax, Reuters 27 March 2015, 13:33
Belarus has rejected as a "fabrication" accusations that it supplied weapons to Libyan armed groups, in violation of a United Nations arms embargo.
Dmitry Mironchik, a spokesman for the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, said on March 21 that Minsk had supplied military equipment only to Libyan authorities and that the shipments had been approved by the United Nations.
According to Mironchik, Belarus stopped deliveries to Libya in June 2014 due to the deteriorating security situation in the country.
The fall and death of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 has plunged the country into chaos, with the central government and rival armed factions vying for control.
Last month, the Reuters news agency said a confidential report by the UN Security Council's Panel of Experts on Libya found evidence that part of the Belarusian weapons shipments had been diverted by rebel brigades.
Reuters also cited the report as saying that "some of the deliveries appear to have been made directly to autonomous armed groups."
